Afternoon Tea
by beguiledbythephantom
Summary: Erik shows up on Christine doorstep in shambles.


The night Raoul and myself left the his lair I never thought I would see my Phantom again, let alone have weekly tea dates with him. However, it was about two months after that dreadful night that he turned up on my porch during the day, he had his trusty mask on his face but that was the only normal part about him. It looked like he may have sleep in his wig but the dark circles under his eyes suggested he hadn't been sleeping and his clothes were dirtied and wrinkled. He was missing his jacket and there was a large rip in the left sleeve of his once white dress shirt, his vest lay unbuttoned around his chest and his the first couple buttons of his shirt were undone. To make everything worse he seemed even paler then before and if possible skinner. He stared at me for a really long time before barely whispered my name and collapsing in a mess on my porch. I honestly was too shocked to scream or do much of anything but I knew I needed to act fast. It was frowned upon to have an unconscious murderer on your porch in our neighborhood. So I choose the even more risqué choice and dragged the unconscious murderer into my home, while my husband to be was currently at work. I prayed none of the extremely noisy people who lived around had seen this whole event as I slammed the door behind me with my foot in a very unlady like manner.

Erik wasn't helping me at all so I dropped him just inside the door, not wanting to drag him through the whole house. I went and grabbed everything I thought I needed and some other things I may not need, like a first aid kit but I didn't know what mysteries lay under his tattered clothes. I dropped everything near him on the floor and lowered myself next to his face, gently removing his mask and the wig. The skin under the mask was dirty and there was a faint outline of the mask left on his face. What had this man gone through in the last two months? I moved to his shirt, pulling the front out of his pants and unbuttoning it, allowing it to collect at his sides. The skin I found was just as dirty as his face and covered in scars, not ones he was born with. These scars were man made. My pitiful creature of darkness. I grabbed the wash towel and dipped it into the warm water and slowly started to clean the man who's heart I owned.

I had just finished cleaning his face when he shot up, causing me to drop the towel and fall backwards, into the bowl of water. He was gasping for breath as his wide eyes took in the room while he tried to figure out where he was. His eyes finally landed on me.

"Christine. What..." but he didn't finish as his hand instantly covered his unmasked face and his eyes filled with hurt and anger. He turned away from me as his left hand tried to button his shirt. "I don't...I shouldn't have come. I am sorry. I need to go." He gave up at trying to button his shirt as he franticly began to search for his mask. I picked it up and handed it to him and I saw him pause before reaching for it.

"Erik. What happened?"

With his mask back on, he didn't seem to notice the absent wig, his eyes found mine and for a moment I saw hope but it was gone just so quick I may have just imagined it.

"You left me." His voice shook and I slowly reached for his hand, covering it with mine.

"Oh, Erik...my angel..." I stood up, pulling him up also and lead him to the washroom. He followed me like a lost puppy, not questioning anything. "Erik, I think we need to talk but first, you need to bath. So take your time and I'll get you some new clothes." I left him standing in the middle of my washroom, looking disdainly at my tub. I faintly heard the water turn on and I went to get him some of Raoul's clothes. I grabbed one of Raoul's many black dress shirts and a pair of his dress pant he had yet to be shortened. I hope they fit and headed back to the washroom, softly knocking on the door. I heard a faint, come in from inside and opened the door a crack.

"Is anything showing?"

"No, come in. It's fine." His voice already sounded more alive. I found him relaxing in the tub, the water nearly overflowing. He looked peaceful and there was also more color to his skin, however he still had his mask on. I laid the clothes on the table near the tub, along with a towel and I collected his clothes from the floor. I turned to leave when his voice stopped me.

"Thank you." I turned slightly and caught him looking at me.

"No need to thank me, Erik. It's what friends do." I heard him chuckle softly as I shut the door and went to the kitchen to find something for him to eat and figure out how I was going to explain his presence in our home to Raoul. I was just hoping he would listen to me before doing anything drastic.

I made a small pot of tea and located some jam and beard. I didn't hear him enter the room but I could feel him and it made goosebumps appear on my skin. I turned to find him leaning against the door frame. He had his mask on, minus the wig which looked a little funny but he made it work. The clothes fit better then I thought they would, however the shirt sleeves must have been a little short because he had them rolled up to his elbows and he wasn't wearing shoes. Besides the obvious things he was beginning to look like the phantom I once knew and not the corpse that had showed up at my door a few hours ago. For a moment I imagined that this was a normal site in my home, Erik walking around barefoot without his jacket and vest, the first couple buttons of his shirt undone. I realized I saw staring and felt the blush creep onto my cheeks. I turned quickly and brushed invisible crumbs off my dress.

"I made some tea to have with toast and jam. Do you like straw-" But I didn't finish because he was instantly standing behind me. His hands resting on the counter in front of us, trapping him against him. He wasn't touching me at all but I could already feel an ache between my legs. His lips ghosted over my ear, slightly bitting the skin while his hot breath sent chills down my spine. "Christine. I need you." A moan escaped my lips as my head fell against his shoulder. The front door opened and closed and I turned around. Erik was once again leaning against the door jam like nothing had happened and was staring at me with a strange look on his face. He turned just as Raoul almost ran into him and Raoul staggered back, rubbed his eyes, blinked a fews times and as he realized that Erik was currently currently standing in front of him, alive and semi well. His eyes found mine and in a deathly calm voice,

"You have 5 minutes to explain this before I kill him."

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